Fdyapt

[Guest CyndaP]

When establishing a quorum for a nine member committee where two of the members clearly can't vote on the issue is the quorum based on nine or seven members?

[Gary Novosielski]

Well, according to RONR, members of a committee can vote. So, if you have members who "clearly can't vote" (why?), you must have rules that supersede those in RONR. So you'll need to read and follow them.

If you have no special rules on committees, then a quorum is a majority (more than half) of the members. A majority of nine is four five. But if you have no special rules, then all members can vote. And even if they can vote but do not, they still count toward a quorum, as long as they are present.

[jstackpo]

Oops... the quorum of 9 is 5.

[Guest CyndaP]

The two can't vote because it would be a conflict of interest.

[George Mervosh]

The two can't vote because it would be a conflict of interest.

There is no restriction in RONR. See this FAQ http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#9

[Bruce Lages]

Do your rules specificallly define 'conflict of interest' and how that affects voting rights?

[Guest CyndaP]

Both members have voluntarily said that they wouldn't vote on the motion. This is a special meeting to vote on only that motion, so neither member will attend. The question could become "Do we have a quorum?" if other members also choose not to attend. I'm trying to be prepared.

[Dan Honemann]

Both members have voluntarily said that they wouldn't vote on the motion. This is a special meeting to vote on only that motion, so neither member will attend. The question could become "Do we have a quorum?" if other members also choose not to attend. I'm trying to be prepared.

As noted above, if the rules in RONR control the matter, you will need to have at least five committee members present in order to conduct any business at your committee meeting.

[Gary Novosielski]

Oops... the quorum of 9 is 5.

You took the word out of my mouth. Ooops.

[Gary Novosielski]

Both members have voluntarily said that they wouldn't vote on the motion. This is a special meeting to vote on only that motion, so neither member will attend. The question could become "Do we have a quorum?" if other members also choose not to attend. I'm trying to be prepared.

Well, we've migrated from "can't" to "won't", so that's something. They don't have to vote to contribute to a quorum, but they do have to show up. If you have nine, and two do not show up, you still have a quorum (five) so you're still okay. You could even have two more not show up and still conduct business.

[David A Foulkes]

Both members have voluntarily said that they wouldn't vote on the motion.

That's their choice, as long they are aware that they can vote.

This is a special meeting to vote on only that motion, so neither member will attend.

That's their choice, as long as they are aware they can attend, and they are notified of the meeting regardless.

The question could become "Do we have a quorum?"

If you have nine members on the committee, and no rule outside of RONR establishes the quorum, as long as five members remain present at the meeting you have a quorum.

Make clear to them that they have a right to notification of the meeting, to attend the meeting, and to vote or abstain as they see fit. Anything less and the slope gets slipperier and slipperier.